Houston Police Department's Handling of Deadly Mental Health Crisis Call Raises Questions.
A recent incident in which a man with a mental health crisis turned deadly has left many questions about the Houston Police Department's handling of the situation. The case highlights the importance of proper training and protocols for officers responding to mental health crises, particularly when specialized crisis intervention officers are not involved.
According to eyewitness Twuana Johnson, who was present during the incident, the man did not pose an immediate threat to himself or others but still needed help. He requested to see his son, which seemed like a reasonable request at the time. However, police officers decided to restrain him, leading to a violent confrontation that resulted in one officer being stabbed and another fatally shot.
Critics argue that if specialized crisis intervention officers were present and properly trained, the situation could have been de-escalated, saving lives. Dr. Kimberly Dodson, a criminology professor at the University of Houston Clear Lake and former mental health officer, emphasizes the importance of these specialized officers in responding to mental health crises.
"The whole thing could've been avoided," Dodson said. "If they had the proper training, if they had handled the situation differently, they would not have had to escalate it." The department's policy states that when someone is suffering a mental health crisis, officers should request a crisis intervention officer whenever possible. However, in this case, it is unclear whether this protocol was followed.
The Houston Police Department has yet to answer questions about their response to the incident, including whether they contacted the crisis intervention unit. The department plans to release body camera footage, which could shed light on what transpired during the confrontation.
A recent incident in which a man with a mental health crisis turned deadly has left many questions about the Houston Police Department's handling of the situation. The case highlights the importance of proper training and protocols for officers responding to mental health crises, particularly when specialized crisis intervention officers are not involved.
According to eyewitness Twuana Johnson, who was present during the incident, the man did not pose an immediate threat to himself or others but still needed help. He requested to see his son, which seemed like a reasonable request at the time. However, police officers decided to restrain him, leading to a violent confrontation that resulted in one officer being stabbed and another fatally shot.
Critics argue that if specialized crisis intervention officers were present and properly trained, the situation could have been de-escalated, saving lives. Dr. Kimberly Dodson, a criminology professor at the University of Houston Clear Lake and former mental health officer, emphasizes the importance of these specialized officers in responding to mental health crises.
"The whole thing could've been avoided," Dodson said. "If they had the proper training, if they had handled the situation differently, they would not have had to escalate it." The department's policy states that when someone is suffering a mental health crisis, officers should request a crisis intervention officer whenever possible. However, in this case, it is unclear whether this protocol was followed.
The Houston Police Department has yet to answer questions about their response to the incident, including whether they contacted the crisis intervention unit. The department plans to release body camera footage, which could shed light on what transpired during the confrontation.
like, dis guy wasnt even threatening nobody & he just needed help from his son but cops restrained him & things got violent 
. specially crisis intervention officers should b present 4 de-escalation purposes & all dat. Dr. Dodson's right, proper training & protocol would save lives for sho 
dey gotta be held accountable 4 dis! but hopefully de body cam footage will give us some ansers... or maybe it'll just show how messed up de system is 
. like how can u call 911 and be like "my son is in trouble" and still have cops come in there all aggressive? 
it's not that hard to de-escalate situations, y'know? just listen and try to help... sometimes people just need someone to talk to, you feel me? 
i know we gotta be safe and all, but u can't just assume everyone's a threat. like, what if the dude was really just having a bad day and needed some help? 
... like, isn't it common sense to get some expert in there who knows what they're doing? I don't think any cop wants to mess up a situation like this 
. The fact that someone ended up dead is just devastating 
... we need better training and support for our police officers, or something needs to change 
.
officers gotta have training & protocols in place or its just gonna end badly... like dr dodson said, proper training would def help de-escalate these situations... its all about comms & empathy now 
It's not that hard to train officers to de-escalate mental health crises... it's all about empathy and communication, right? 
The fact that they didn't follow their own policy and had to escalate the situation is just devastating 
. I'm hoping the body cam footage will reveal what went down and maybe we can finally get some answers and change some policies 
. We need better support systems in place for people struggling with mental health crises, not more violence 
.
. It's so frustrating because I know we need more resources for our mental health services, not more ways to traumatize people in crisis 
. And can you believe the protocol was supposedly followed but it still went wrong? It's like, what even is going on here? 
And while we're at it, let's make sure we've got more support for mental health services in our communities - we can't keep relying on crisis intervention officers as the only solution 
.
. We need more de-escalation training for our law enforcement, stat! 
. We need more people like Dr. Dodson who are passionate about mental health and can help train the officers to handle these situations with care 
. In this case, though, those special units weren't involved, which seems to be the root of all this trouble 
. I'm really hoping that the Houston Police Department comes clean about their response and maybe even gets some extra training (or better protocols) in place.
. And what's up with the department not talking about this yet? It's like, transparency is key, right? 
. I know they're trying to do their job but sometimes you gotta draw a line and prioritize helping someone over enforcing the law, you know? 
. if they had specialized crisis intervention officers on site it could've been defused and no one would've gotten hurt